FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT CENTENNIAL LEAGUE - PAGE 2

The Centennial League caliber of wrestling is not to be confused with that in the East Penn Conference - at least not yet. Each year, the top two or three Centennial schools could be competitive with the EPC's middle to lower echelon clubs, but not with its elite top end. But all of that matters not a whit. What does matter is that the quest for the Centennial crown each year proves to be the most competitive of all the local leagues. This is, easily, the area's best-balanced league.

The Big Three during World War II were the three Allied leaders: Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin. In Detroit, the Big Three are General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. Education's Big Three are reading, writing and arithmetic. And, in the Centennial League girls basketball race, the Big Three still are Palmerton, Notre Dame and East Stroudsburg. "You have to be realistic," said Lehighton coach Rich Bisbing. "Based on past performances, Palmerton, Notre Dame and East Stroudsburg are going to be very strong again this year.

Cross country runners will find the season all downhill from here as they jump into the championship season this week with league meets. Today, the Centennial League meet races will begin at 4 (boys) and 4:45 p.m. (girls) at Allentown College. Tomorrow, the East Penn Conference meet races will begin at 2 and 2:30 p.m. at Lehigh University's Goodman Campus. Also tomorrow, the Colonial League meet races will start at 2:30 and 3:15 p.m. at Allentown College. Next Thursday, the leagues will converge for the District 11 Class 2A and 3A meets, both at Lehigh.

When Pocono Mountain defeated Northern Lehigh 3-1 Friday to win the Centennial League baseball championship, Cardinal skipper Bill Carter let out a sigh of relief that his hitting and pitching came together late in the season. The Cardinals breezed to the league's first-half crown but stumbled twice in the second half and needed to beat Northern Lehigh (one loss in the second half) to win the overall crown. Carter took over for Lafayette-bound Greg Vogel this season and inherited a team that won the title last season.

Snap, crackle, pop went the upset dreams of all-star boys teams representing the Colonial and Centennial Leagues last night in the 11th annual LARC Basketball Classic as the East Penn Conference dominated the action for the second straight evening before 1,800 spectators in Allen's Phys Ed Center. The opener saw East Penn West erase a stubborn Colonial squad 83-71 and the nightcap spotlighted a 77-64 East Penn East win over an equally-stubborn Centennial team. This means tonight's girls-boys doubleheader will feature four teams from the East Penn Conference.

When Lehighton golf coach Tom Schaeffer took a look at his squad early this fall, he figured the Indians were in for a rebuilding year. After all, the team lost standouts John Armbruster, Matt Kokinda, Jay Mihalek and the coach's son, Matt, from a squad that won the Centennial League regular season title a year before. When the league season began this year, the Indians lost league matches to Pocono Mountain and Palmerton and trouble appeared to have set in. The Indians regrouped quickly, however, as a 7-0-1 mark the rest of the way produced a second straight title.

The Champions' Champion stole the show at yesterday's Centennial League cross-country championships as Northern Lehigh's Tim Markell led his Bulldogs to a successful defense of their Tournament Trophy among the raindrops at Allentown College. In the girls' race, Notre Dame landed three finishers in the top five to win the team title, while Pocono Mountain's Tracy Jaster ran almost uncontested for her first individual crown. "That's the kid!" commented a visibly psyched Dave Oertner - the brains behind the Bulldogs' third straight tournament title - of his "stud" Markell.

Palmerton took control of the tempo after trailing by seven points in the final quarter for a thrilling 39-38 victory over Northwestern before an appreciative large crowd at Northern Lehigh last night. The victory gave the Blue Bombers the overall Centennial League girls championship. They captured the second half title last week in a playoff against Notre Dame. Palmerton, 17-6 overall, thus becomes just the second second half champion to hold the overall crown since the league's inception.

Palmerton High's boys cross-country and golf teams retained their Centennial League titles this fall even though they approached their seasons differently. Coach Tom Wargo was certain his veteran golfers would repeat their winnings of a year ago but Coach Jan Sosik guided his harriers to a third straight league title in the face of a rebuilding year. "We lost our top five runners from the 1983 championship team and only two with any experience were back this year so we had our work cut out," Sosik lamented at the start of the campaign.

Centennial League boys' basketball in the 1980s has been a story of dominant teams and dominant players. In this decade, the league championship has been won by only two schools, and two coaches who have since given up their posts: Northern Lehigh won five in a row underGlenn Rissmiller and Lehighton swept the title the last two years under Jim Smith. The dominant players have included memorable stars like Northern Lehigh's Larry Arndt, Brett Jones, Jeff Hausamann; Palmerton's Jason Balliet; Pleasant Valley's Jon Konawalik, and, of course, Lehighton's Tom Kresge.